Dr Stuart Prior
HND (Bournemouth), BA, MA, PhD (Bristol), AIFA
Lecturer in Archaeological PracticeDepartment of Archaeology and Anthropology |
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Background
Stuart Prior initially gained an HND in Practical Field Archaeology at Bournemouth University and for nine years worked as a professional archaeologist in contract archaeology. He went on to obtain a BA in Archaeology and an MA in Landscape Archaeology at the University of Bristol, and subsequently attained a PhD. Stuart joined the Department as a Teaching Fellow in August 2004, and secured his position as Lecturer in Archaeological Practice in May 2006. Stuart is a corporate member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists (AIFA) and a member of the Council for British Archaeology (CBA).
Teaching & Administrative Responsibilities
Stuart is primarily responsible for the management and provision of teaching in professional and vocational archaeology, and consequently delivers much of the Department’s practical training. He is Director of the MA in Landscape Archaeology, and teaches postgraduate sessions on geophysical and earthwork surveying, standing building archaeology and recording, archaeological research skills, data collection and report writing, methods and techniques in landscape archaeology, and heritage management. Stuart also directs and teaches undergraduate units on Artefacts, Ancient Technology, Sites & Monuments, and Early Medieval Britain & Ireland, and is Course Tutor for the Certificate in Archaeology run by Continuing Education.
Research Interests
Early Medieval & Norman Archaeology; Landscape Archaeology; Castle Studies & Medieval Warfare; Ancient & Historical Technology; Experimental Archaeology.
Current Research Activities
The Berkeley Castle Project
Stuart is Fieldwork Director for department’s accredited undergraduate archaeological excavations, which take place annually at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire. The excavations form part of the ‘Berkeley Castle Project’, a recently established long-term research project and joint venture between the Department and the Berkeley Castle Charitable Trust; which has the full support of Mr John Berkeley, the present owner of the Berkeley estates and occupier of the castle. The project aims to use a variety of archaeological techniques, alongside information contained in the castle’s impressive collection of 6,000 medieval documents, ‘to build up a detailed picture of the history and archaeology of the castle and the associated settlement of Berkeley’. It is expected that this project, on such an important, prestigious and largely undisturbed site, will add much to the knowledge and understanding of the early medieval period, and the subsequent changes in landscape and society with the coming of the Normans. The results from the two seasons of fieldwork, undertaken so far, are very impressive. Geophysical and earthwork surveys have revealed a 13th century ‘designed castle landscape’ complete with fishponds and watercourses, the remains of a 12th century hospital, and the location and layout of an early Saxon river port. Whilst excavations have recorded a substantial ditch containing numerous sherds of late Saxon pottery, part of a rare Saxon millstone, and two 10th century Saxon coins. The pottery assemblage, which dates from the late 9th to early 11th century, is believed to pre-date the Saxon pottery sequences at both Bristol and Bath, and is the only pottery of its date so far found in southern Gloucestershire; whilst, remarkably, the ditch appears to have enclosed an Anglo-Saxon double house mynster.
Experimental Archaeology & Archaeotoxophily
Stuart also has interests in Ancient & Historical Technology, and is particularly keen to advance the discipline of Experimental Archaeology and promote its value as a useful tool for study and research. He has undertaken several experimental archaeology projects, especially in the field of ‘Archaeotoxophily’: the archaeological study of ancient archery. Using the tools, technologies and materials available to the indigenous population at the time, Stuart recreated working replicas of the Neolithic Meare Heath Bow and Mesolithic Holmegaard bow. These bows proved to be extremely sophisticated weapons, as tests demonstrated that they were far superior to the highly stacked medieval longbows that followed several thousand years later. The prehistoric bows accord well with modern principles of scientific design and have consequently challenged previous interpretations of the bows, as well as notions about the past.
Publications & Reports
- in prep. Winning Strategies: An archaeological study of Norman castles in the landscapes of Somerset, Monmouthshire and Co. Meath, 1066-1186. Ph.D. thesis to be published as a British Archaeological Report (BAR). Oxford: Archaeopress.
- in prep. ‘Anglo-Saxon Remains in the Butterfly Garden at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire’. Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society - Transactions.
- 2006. A Few Well-Positioned Castles: the Norman art of war. Stroud: Tempus.
- 2006. ‘Strategy, Symbolism and the Down-Right Unusual: The Archaeology of Three Somerset Castles’. People & Places: Essays in Honour of Mick Aston. Oxford: Oxbow.
- 2006. Archaeological Excavation and Earthwork Survey in the Butterfly Garden, Castle Moat and Water Meadow, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, 2005. Unpublished excavation report. Bristol: University of Bristol.
- 2004. ‘Castle Cary Castle – Context and Background’. In: Leach, P. & Ellis, P., ‘Roman & Medieval Remains at Manor Farm, Castle Cary, 1998-2001’, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society, vol.147, 80-128.
- 2000. ‘The Skill of the Neolithic Bowyers - Reassessing the past through Experimental Archaeology’. Somerset Archaeology, 19-24. Webster, C.J. (ed.), Taunton: SCC.
- 2000. ‘Recreating the Neolithic Meare Heath Bow - Reassessing the past through Experimental Archaeology’. Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries, vol.43, 44-48.
Conference Papers
- December 2004. Strategy, Symbolism and the Down-Right Unusual: The Archaeology of Three Somerset Castles. People & Places: Conference in Honour of Mick Aston’s Retirement. University of Bristol.
- March 2002. Television Archaeology – is the jury still out? Archaeology in the Public Domain Conference. University of Sheffield.
- December 2001. Montacute Motte & Bailey Castle – Strategic or Symbolic? Paper presented in ‘Castles’ session at Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) Conference 2001, University College Dublin.
- October 1999. The Skill of the Neolithic Bowyers – reassessing the past through Experimental Archaeology. Somerset Archaeology: Conference to mark 150 years of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society. Dillington House, Dillington, Somerset.
Television
- August 2003 to March 2006. Archaeologist/Interviewee on How The West Was Made. Available Light Productions, Clifton, Bristol.
- July 2005. Archaeologist on Time Team’s Big Roman Dig. Wildfire Television, 49 Goldhawk Road, London.
- 1999 to 2004. Archaeologist on Time Team (Series 6, 8, 9, 10 & 11). Video Text Communications, Shepherd’s Bush, London.
- November 2003. Archaeologist/Interviewee on Lost Buildings of Britain. Darlow Smithson Productions Ltd, 33 Greenwood Place, Kentish Town, London.
- October 2002. Archaeologist/Interviewee on The Seven Ages of Britain. Wildfire Television, Barb Mews, London.
- May 2002. Archaeologist/Interviewee on Time Flyers. BBC Scotland, Queen Margaret Drive, Glasgow, Scotland.
- February 2002. Archaeologist/Interviewee on Castle. Lion Television, Ravenscourt Park, London.
- July 2001. Archaeologist/Interviewee on Sacred Sites (Series 2). Available Light Productions, Clifton, Bristol.